Spanish police have arrested more than 20 British citizens in Ibiza this weekend in a major operation against drug traffickers on the holiday island.

Quantities of cocaine, ecstasy and other drugs were seized in a series of raids at properties in the popular Spanish resort of San Antonio on the west coast of the Balearic Island.

The Civil Guard said that 24 people had been arrested, the majority thought to be British, and would appear before a judge in Ibiza Town in the coming hours.

Officers from the paramilitary force began the raids on Friday in a joint operation with the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) aimed at dismantling British gangs who overrun the island each summer.

The booming trade in class A drugs is thought to be controlled by rival British networks from Manchester and Liverpool who send out armies of drug dealers to supply clubbers during the holiday season between June and September.

A team from the Civil Guard's Central Operations Unit flew in from Madrid to conduct the raid after weeks of surveillance by local undercover officers.

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A spokesman at national headquarters said: "This operation is still going on and we cannot give any details at this stage." But he added:"A pile of Britons have been detained."

"We are aware of the operation," a spokesman at the British Embassy in Madrid said.

A spokesman from Soca confirmed: "Around 20 people have been arrested, predominately British nationals, in an operation against drug traffickers on Ibiza. It is a joint investigation between SOCA and Spain's Guardia Civil. We have no more details to release at present."

The arrests follow warnings earlier this summer by a Spanish police organisation that authorities were losing the battle against drug traffickers in Ibiza.

Reports estimated that some 40,000 Ecstasy pills were sold to thrill-seeking tourists each day during the summer months with almost half of British visitors to Ibiza aged between 16-35 admitting to have taken the drug at least once while on holiday.

The island attracts around half a million British visitors each summer.

This weekend's busts were the biggest since a crackdown last September in which Spanish police captured the ring leaders of a drug cartel originating from Liverpool.

Operation Trafalgar as it was dubbed led to the arrest of 25 people and the seizure of 23,000 doses of party drug ecstasy as well as quantities of Ketamine, cocaine and crystal meth.

Police also seized 100,000 euros (£87,000) in cash and stolen goods as well as several guns.